Love at First Sight
by Mabu-chan
Summary: Suze meets Jesse. Suze meets Paul. Suze really loves Jesse and they immediately get engaged. Will this fling turn out to be eternal bliss? Or will it end with broken hearts and tears?
1. Chapter 1

My bare feet carried me through the forest as I ran as quickly as I could. My pursuers yelled at me to stop. I kept running, my ebony hair behind me. I was coming up to a farm. One I didn't recognize. I glanced back to see if the men were still following me when I crashed into someone.

"Ow…" I had ended up on top of the person. My eyes blinked open and I saw the face of a very handsome man. He looked about my age.

"Excuse me?" He stared up at me with a state of confusion on his face. His voice had a thick Spanish accent. To my ears it was beautiful hearing his voice. I stared at him for a bit too long. "Miss?" He started to gently push me off of his body. Wow, his arms were extremely strong.

"Oh gosh. I'm so sorry." I quickly came back from my daydream and dusted my dress as I stood up. I stared up at him. His eyes weren't on me, but on the men coming from the forest. I muttered under my breath and looked around for an escape.

"Miss? Are those men after you?" The man looked down at me. His brown eyes glistened in the hot sun. His wavy black hair fell into his face. I noticed a scar above his eyebrow. What was it from?

"Yes. I mean. Well yes." I yammered. Aware of the slight blush that had appeared on my face. The men were getting closer.

"Hey! You slut! Give me back my money!" One of the men called out at me. The nice man pulled me behind him.

"You say that she has stolen from you?" He questioned them. His hand clamped tightly around mine.

"Yeah, that little slut stole my poker money!" He advanced towards us. The man holding my hand glanced back at me.

"I'm not a slut!" I yelled at the man. "I need the money more than you do!"

The man lunged and the handsome man let go of my hand to punch him. I was shoved back a bit and they continued to fight. The man who had protected me beat them good. They had ran away after the fight. Yelling curses and vengeful things.

"Thank you…" I said to the man who was currently wiping the blood off of his face unsuccessfully. I went up to him and pulled out my handkerchief and wiped off the rest. "I really mean it. Thank you." I smiled awkwardly at him.

He grabbed my wrist harshly. "I don't like protecting thieves." He glared at me. "But you seem to be different. I've never seen such a woman like you." He stopped glaring at me and offered a kind smile. He let go of my wrist and his hand went into mine. He shook my hand. "I am Jesse de Silva."

"I'm Susannah Simon. It's nice to meet you." I curtsied slightly realizing that I wasn't being proper.

"Well, Susannah. Where do you live?" He leaned one on leg.

"I am currently homeless." I smiled nervously at the ground. "I was hoping to maybe… find a place to stay here. Not here, here. Just here in this town."

He stood there contemplating what I had just said. "I'm living at a boardinghouse down the road. You could find a room there. I work here during to week." I smiled up at him.

"There is? What luck!" I walked in a small circle trying to decide what I was going to do. "Could you take me to the boardinghouse?" My eyes were pleading.

He chuckled at me. "I shall, _querida._" I stared at him wondering what he said. I had no experience in Spanish. What if he had insulted me? He offered his arm and I took it. He lead me down the field and down onto the dirt road.

"So, Susannah, why were those men chasing you?" People from the town stared at us walking. I felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, I was waitressing at the local bar. Those guys were playing poker and seemed very drunk and the men, in my opinion, had too much money. I was a little behind in the rent. I took the money hoping they wouldn't notice. Sadly, they did." I glanced up at him to see his reaction.

"Survival of the fittest, I guess. You were very bold to steal from such horrible men. I admire that." He smiled down at me and I could feel my heart thumping rapidly in my chest. We came up to a large building. An old woman was out on the porch sweeping.

"Hector! You have returned already?" She stopped sweeping and came towards us. She glanced at me and furrowed her brow for a bit. She gave a kind smile. "Is this a new customer for my old boardinghouse?" The tiny woman's eyes glanced at me quickly.

"I believe so, Mrs. Patterson. If there are any vacancies?" He stared down at the old woman.

"Oh, I'm sorry Hector. I just gave away the last room. But don't you want to stay in the same room as your fiancé?" She winked at Jesse. I blushed. Fiancée? When did this happen? I then realized she was joking.

"Well, if it must happen. We shall do it." Jesse turned to me and smiled mischievously, "Is that alright honey?" I chuckled a bit to myself.

"That will be fine." I clung closer to him to make it look like we were a "couple."

"I'll go prepare more blankets." The old woman smiled up at us and left us alone on the porch.

"Jesse? Are we seriously going to have to act like we're a couple?" I pulled away from him. His face saddened.

"Well, I know this may sound forward, but I feel like we should at least try. What's the harm? It may work out." He smiled at me. I blushed. He wanted to try? He was interested in me? I covered my face with my hands. He took them away and smiled at me. "Come on. Let's go to _our_ room." He nudged me through the door and lead me to a small room on the upper floor.

"This is amazing! Look at the bay window!" I released my hand from Jesse's and ran to the window. The view was of the whole town. "The view is wonderful!" I sat down on the window seat, my hand grazing the top of it.

Jesse leaned against the post of the bed in the corner, smiling at me. "I'm glad you like it, Susannah. Do you want to go into town for a new dress?" He nodded at my dirty one that I still had on. I looked down at it.

I smiled sheepishly up at him. "I guess I should. I should probably look for a job too." I stood up and walked over to him. "Do you have an idea of where to find one?"

"Well, I know Mrs. Patterson has been in need of some help lately. Maybe you should inquire with her."

"Maybe I will." I stuck my tongue out at him. I walked to the door and started to open it to go find Mrs. Patterson.

"Susannah. I have to get back to work. I'll be back later." He smiled at me. I nodded and headed down the stairs.

I had found Mrs. Patterson in the kitchens and she put me right to work making beds in the rooms. I pushed a cart down to a room at the end of the hallway. I knocked quietly on the door to make sure that there was no one in there. I pushed it slightly and when I looked up there was a half-dressed man.

"I'm so sorry!" I yelped and ran out of the room. I had abandoned the cart in the room and was leaning against the wall by the door. I had covered my head to hide my embarrassment.

"Miss? I'm sorry if I frightened you." I glanced up to see a young looking man. Quite handsome too. He chuckled. "It's not everyday a pretty young lady comes into my room." He offered a hand to help me up. He pulled me up so easily.

"I'm so sorry. I just came in to change the beds." I walked over near my cart. "I could come back later." I started to pull it out of the room. He put his hand on the cart.

"Just do it now. I have to go get some breakfast. By the way, the name's Paul Slater." He offered his hand.

"Susannah." I didn't bother telling him my last name since I was supposedly "engaged." He smiled at me and I felt my heart pound again. He left me to make the beds.

I finished making the beds. There were stains all over his sheets. Was he doing it with girls every night? Gosh. What a man. I headed into the laundry room and started to wash all the dirty sheets I had collected when Mrs. Patterson came in.

"Susannah. Why don't you take a break and head into town? It's been great since you have been helping. I would've been doing laundry all day." The old woman patted my arm and smiled.

"Alright. It might be nice."

"Maybe you should buy something for your fiancé?" She nudged me with her elbow and laughed as I went out the door.

I headed out the backdoor and down into the stables. I had never been close to any real horses. I wanted to check them out. The giant wooden door creaked open as I looked inside.

"Wow…" A beautiful black mare was standing in front of me. I stood there in awe. She was so beautiful. Her mane was wavy and it cascaded down her neck. I reached my hand up to her nose and she sniffed it. "You're so magnificent."

"Geez, Suze. I didn't think that horse would like anyone." I jumped and turned around. Paul was standing in the doorway.

"Oh. Hey Paul." I scratched the mare's head and she whinnied. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to get a horse for a ride into town. Do you want a ride?" He went to a different horse in the back and began saddling it up.

"No, thank you." I tried to sound uninterested since Paul didn't seem too nice of a guy.

"Aw, come on. Suze, you would love it. This town is so western. I'm from the east so it's quite a change." He started to pull the horse out. "You sure?" He approached me from behind and I could feel his hot breath on my cheek. He slid his arms around my waist and he began kissing my neck. I moaned softly and then realized what was really happening. I elbowed him in the stomach.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled at him. After kicking him in the shin, I ran out the barn door and almost tackled Jesse. He caught me with both his arms.

"Susannah? Are you alright? You're all flustered." I looked up at him and he seemed very concerned. "Who's in there?"

Paul emerged from the barn and saw me in Jesse's arms. "Oh. I get it. You're with him." He got up on the horse that he had saddled up earlier and rode off.

"Susannah? What happened?" He let go of me like my body was on fire.

"Jesse. Nothing bad happened. He just… kissed me on the neck, but that was it!" I started to panic and babble on about how I was sorry. I could feel tears coming down my cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Jesse. Nothing happened. I'm sorry." He put a finger to my lips.  
"Susannah. It's all right. I believe you." He smiled softly at me, but I could see that in his eyes he was still suspicious.

"Jesse. I'm so sorry. I don't even like him! Because, well… I love you." I mumbled the last part quietly. What was I saying? I love him? I've only known him for about twelve hours. I could feel it in me though. I think I really did love him. I glanced up at Jesse to see what he was doing.

His eyes were wide and there was a slight pinkish color on his cheeks. "_Querida_, really? But we haven't known each other that long. I mean… I'm flattered." He took a hold of one of my hands. "Susannah. I feel something too. It may be love. I mean, yes. I did feel jealous when you came out all flustered after you were alone with that man. Susannah, I think I love you too." He smiled nervously as he stared down at me. I felt like my heart was about to burst. I stepped closer to him and he pulled back quickly. "What are you doing?" He seemed very surprised.

"Just hold still, Jesse." I wrapped my arms around his neck and connected my lips to his. He seemed tense at first but he relaxed as his arms went around my waist. He pulled me closer. I slipped my tongue into his mouth. He moaned softly. After a couple of minutes of kissing, he pulled away.

"Susannah…" his breath was uneven. I could see passion in his eyes. "Come with me." He led me into our room and we began kissing again. He laid me on the bed and pulled off my dress and flung it on the floor.

Our bodies connected in the best way it could. After it was over, we laid there under the covers. Both of our breathing ragged.

"Jesse," I looked up at him from my position in his arms. "What do we do now?"

He pulled me closer to his body. His chest going up and down. "Let's get engaged. For real." He smiled at me.

"All right." I hugged him. "Aren't you going to propose then?"

He chuckled and kneeled on the bed. "Susannah Simon, will you marry me?" I giggled and nodded. We fell asleep listening to each other's heartbeats.


	2. Chapter 2

_:3 Thank you to all who reviewed. I know it seemed like it went really fast. XD I realized that after I had written it. So now, A PLOT TWIST! Mwahahah :3 I hope it makes more sense now. :D I plan to complicate the plot a bit more as I go along with the story._

_- Please enjoy the next chapter to "Love at First Sight." I would be very grateful if you reviewed. XD_

I shot up in bed. My eyes glanced around my room. I turned my head to see Jesse on the windowsill, petting Spike.

"Susannah?" He asked with a state of confusion on his face. "Are you alright? You were laughing in your sleep." He didn't move from the position he was in. His faintly glowing body was more luminous in the moonlight.

I laughed to myself, remembering the odd dream that had just occurred. "I just had a weird dream. You were in it." I slipped out of my bed, my bare feet padded across the carpet to the bathroom.

Jesse emerged at the door as I started to brush my teeth. "Really? What happened?" His eyes showed that he was very interested in hearing about my dream.

I spit down the toothpaste into the sink. "Oh you know. The same old, same old. Us meeting back in the 1800's then getting married right away."

He leaned against the doorway. "Same old, same old? You mean you've had this dream before, _querida?_" He had a slight bemused look on his face. He was obviously finding enjoyment in my nocturnal events. "What else happened in this dream of yours?"

I looked over at him. God, he looked so hot standing there. "You know… meeting, working, admitting our secret lust for each other." I tried to sound nonchalant as I said that. I really wanted to yell at him that I loved him.

Jesse looked taken aback by this. "Lust? Susannah, I'm appalled. To think that you would have any sort of that nonsense in your head." He went back into my bedroom.

I followed after him. "Hey, I'm a regular teenage girl. Don't blame me, blame my hormones." I looked at my alarm clock. Gah, six-thirty in the morning on a Saturday. What was I doing up? Oh yeah, talking to the guy I love. Duh, Suze. I sat down on my bed and stared at my toes.

"Right. Of course, blame your hormones." Jesse came over at sat down next to me. He was so close. I wanted to touch him. "Do you blame everything you do on your hormonal rages?" He raised an eyebrow at me. I looked up at him. His eyes blinked slightly. I started to bring my lips closer to his. My lips barely touched his when my door flew open.

"Suze? What are you doing?" My brother Doc stood in the doorway. I sucked in my lips; Jesse sat there not moving.

"Just blowing spit bubbles." This caused Jesse to snort with laughter. I glared at him out of the corner of my eye. "What do you want?"

"I thought I heard you talking in your sleep." Doc glanced around the room. "Guess not. Do you want to have some breakfast with me?" He stared nervously at the floor. Out of all my stepbrothers, he was my favorite.

"Sure. I'll be right down." With that he shut the door behind him and Jesse burst into laughter.

"What?" I stood up immediately feeling embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Susannah," he said between laughs, "Spit bubbles?" I glared at him, my face feeling red.

"What was I supposed to say? That I was about to kiss a ghost?" My eyes immediately went to the floor, I regretted what I had just said.

Jesse had stopped laughing, I heard him stand up. "Susannah? Look at me." I backed up near the windowsill. Spike hissed at me. "Susannah." He took my hand and I forced myself to look at him. His eyes were serious. He lent down and grazed his lips against mine. My body tingled from his touch. I went in for another kiss, but his finger caught my lips. "Now, Susannah. You don't want your stepbrother to wait for you. Go down and eat." He smiled softly at me and he reluctantly let go of my hand.

I shuffled my feet over to the door. "You shouldn't have laughed at my spit bubble thing. What would you have done in my situation?" I raised my eyebrows at him in question.

"I would have told him that I was preparing myself to kiss the person I love." He smirked at me and pushed me out the door.

I stood there by my door in disbelief. Someone he loved? He loved me? My heart almost burst. Color went to my face.

"Suze? You coming?" Doc called from downstairs.

"Yeah!" I tumbled down the stairs and got ready for breakfast. My face still red.

"You sick or something?" Doc stared at me with brotherly concern.

"Nah, I just ran down the stairs too fast." I sat down to eat with him.

"Alright. You've been acting all weird and lovey-dovey lately. Did you meet someone?"

I nodded and laughed. He had no idea what I was going through right now. No clue at all.


	3. Chapter 3

After my breakfast with Doc, I headed up to my room to find that Jesse had disappeared. _Wasn't he going to actually admit his love for me?_ I thought to myself. I smiled to myself and dressed for the day. I was meeting CeeCee and Adam at the beach at ten.

I grabbed my bag and headed towards the beach. I didn't feel like driving today since it was so nice out. I got to the beach around nine forty five. I sighed and set down my things. My eyes squinted as the sun came out from the clouds. I laid my blanket down and sat down to apply suntan lotion.

Suddenly a body collided with my legs. I stared down to see a guy, a very hot guy I might add, lying on my legs.

I stared at him in disbelief and confusion. He looked up at me with green eyes. "I'm sorry." He stood up and dusted himself off, a Frisbee in his hand. "I was just playing catch with my friend. I didn't see you there." I started to stand up to dust myself off and he offered a hand. After he pulled me up, I brushed off my sandy legs.

"Just watch where you're going next time." I offered a polite smile and now I noticed that he had a very chiseled face and curly dark brown hair. "The beach is for everyone you know."

"Yup. It's a great place to meet girls." He suggestively nudged me lightly in the side. I would have probably hit him if he was just a regular guy touching me, but something said not to. "The name's Ben." He offered his hand to shake.

"Suze." I stated blankly. _Control yourself, Suze_ I thought to myself.

"Short for?" He raised his eyebrow slightly.

I mentally groaned, here it came. "Susannah."

He grinned mischievously and started to sing, "Oh Susannaaaaaah, won't you cry for me?" He lunged forward on one knee to add the embarrassment. If I hadn't had been so embarrassed, I would've thought he was a pretty decent singer.

"Oh my God. Stop." I pushed him over into the sand. He fell laughing.

"I figured you would do that." He said as he sat in the sand, legs sprawled out. "I thought you were going to kick my ass after I fell on you. You should've seen your face." He spun the Frisbee on his finger and smiled at me.

"I could have." I heard a thunk beside me and I glanced over. It was CeeCee dropping her giant beach bag.

"Sorry I'm late. Adam forgot to fill his car with…" she paused slightly and eyed Ben. "…gas." She raised an eyebrow at me in question.

"Oh. CeeCee, this is Ben. Ben, this is CeeCee." I glanced back and forth between them.

"Nice to meet you." CeeCee stuck out her hand.

"Likewise." He shook it. "I better get going. The guys are probably waiting for me. It was nice meeting you both." He smiled again and ran off towards his friends. CeeCee spun towards me.

"Spill." I laughed nervously and began to fill her in on the details. After I had described every, single detail possible, Adam fell down besides her.

"Fine. Just leave me in the car." He said, while poking her in the side. CeeCee squeaked slightly.

"You were taking too long and we were already late. I don't think Suze minded though." She winked at me.

"Oh, did Suze meet someone nice?" He sat up straight and stared at me, eagerly awaiting my answer.

"I just met a guy." Adam fell over like he had been shot. CeeCee rolled her eyes and smacked him.

"Oh dear heart, do not break. Another knight in shining armor has claimed the fair Suze. Do not depress, I still have the beautiful maiden, CeeCee of Camelot." Adam acted in his best, manly voice. I laughed as CeeCee hit him again. He nuzzled her neck. "Oh, you love me anyway." CeeCee turned a bright red and giggled a little.

My thoughts immediately went to Jesse. Why couldn't he just say it like that? Sometimes I wish that he were more like a 21st century guy. Wait, then he wouldn't be Jesse and I probably would have never met him.

"Suze. Suuuuuze." I blinked out of my daze to see Adam waving his hand in my face. "Stop fantasizing about me, I mean, I know I'm dead sexy but come on, I have a girlfriend." He grinned and CeeCee smacked him again in the shoulder. "Geez, woman, you're going to give me a bruise on my rock hard body." He flexed his muscles a bit then he started to tickle CeeCee. She started to laugh and I joined her.

We spent every weekend together, CeeCee, Adam, and I. It was our last year at high school. I wondered how we were going to change towards the end of the year. _Better find out how old Ben is_, my subconscious said to me.

_Great. Another guy interested?_ I sighed to myself and lay down on my towel. _I love Jesse, but he's dead. I just met this great guy, but I don't love him… yet. Wait, yet? Am I planning to fall in love with him? God, I sound so shallow right now._

_What's going on….?_


End file.
